What Will You Give Up When You Start Up? by Adriana Herrera

It’s no secret that starting a company is one of the biggest challenges anyone can undertake. An intense desire to succeed, paired with unreasonably long work hours and high stress levels can inadvertently take over one’s life, causing tension with family and friends, and compromising health. Fashioning Change CEO, Adriana Herrera is no stranger to the tolls of startup life, and in her recent blog post for the New York Times, shared some of the roadblocks she has faced since starting up.

She writes, “I was at a StartupsUncensored event some time ago where a speaker, Jason Nazar, the founder and chief executive of Docstoc, said:

‘You can have your start-up and one thing. You can have your start-up and your health. You can have your start-up and your family. Or you can have your start-up and your significant other, but you can’t have multiples. If you try to have multiples, you’ll be poor at all of them.’

I had never heard someone speak so candidly about the lack of work/life balance when it comes to start-ups. As we continue to build Fashioning Change, I am often reminded of his words.”

Before starting up, every founder should be aware of the Hidden Costs of Starting a Company. They should ask themselves how much they are willing to sacrifice in order to achieve success, and know the risks involved. Click here to check out Adriana’s full post on the New York Times - a thoughtful and insightful piece that every entrepreneur can relate to.

The Founder Institute is the world's largest entrepreneur training and startup launch program, helping aspiring founders across the globe build enduring technology companies. Based in Silicon Valley and with chapters across 50 countries, the Founder Institute has helped launch over 1,563 companies in 5 years. The company's mission is to "Globalize Silicon Valley" and build sustainable startup ecosystems that will create one million new jobs worldwide.